Notes on the Geography of Austria : Vienna: Photo 42

St. Charles Church was commissioned by Charles VI, designed by Fischer von Erlach, who designed the royal library, and consecrated in 1737 to commemorate the end of an attack of the plague. The columns, reminiscent of Trajan's in Rome, recount scenes from the life of St. Charles Borromeo, who as archbishop of Milan had dealt with an attack of the plague in 1576 and who had become the patron saint of plagues. The columns have been interpreted both as the pillars of Hercules, symbolizing civilization, and as echoes of peaceful second century Rome.